Welcome to my blog! I blog about the historical romances I write as well as the history behind them.

Could the American Revolution Have Been Avoided?

Studying the American Revolution inevitably leads one to
ask, “Could the Revolution have been avoided?”

BTW, if you’re a fan of LinkedIn, I asked this very same
question in the American
History group. It’s led to an interesting discussion.

There seem to have been so many chances for Britain to have
turned back, so to speak. The pre-Declaration writings of the founding fathers
made it clear that they didn’t favor independence.

From the Olive Branch Petition submitted by the Second
Continental Congress:

We beg leave further to assure your Majesty, that
notwithstanding the sufferings of your loyal Colonists during the course of
this present controversy, our breasts retain too tender a regard for the
kingdom from which we derive our origin, to request such a reconciliation as
might, in any manner, be inconsistent with her dignity or her welfare. These,
related as we are to her, honour and duty, as well as inclination, induce us to
support and advance; and the apprehensions that now oppress our hearts with
unspeakable grief, being once removed, your Majesty will find your faithful
subjects on this Continent ready and willing at all times, as they have ever
been, with their lives and fortunes, to assert and maintain the rights and
interests of your Majesty, and of our Mother Country

This doesn’t sound to me like a group of men plotting a
revolution.

And for all the talk of taxes being the cause of the
American Revolution, we shouldn't forget that the outcry was over “taxation
without representation.” The Colonists didn’t object to taxes so much as they
objected to taxes levied upon them when they had no direct representation in
Parliament.

There are two reasons I believe the American Revolution was
predestined to happen. (Predestined to happen, not necessarily that the
Americans would win. That, in my opinion, was nothing sort of a miracle.)

Reason #1 –
Direct representation was never going to happen.

Forget the distance. Depending on the weather, the season,
the ship and a variety of other factors, it took roughly a month to cross the
Atlantic. In the 18th century, ambassadors spent considerable time
away from home. In my mind, there is no reason to believe that representatives
from the colonies wouldn’t have been prepared to do the same. They wouldn’t
have had much direct feedback from their constituents, but when’s the last time
a politician listened anyway?

The overriding problem with representation is the same any
parent faces when they want to give one child a treat – the other children will
want it too. If Britain gave direct
representation to the Americans, how soon before the other colonies started to
demand it? That just wouldn’t do!

Reason #2 – The
aristocratic mindset

Truthfully, I wasn’t sure what to call this, but the British
never could seem to shake that feeling of innate superiority. It started with the French and Indian War
when American soldiers were treated as second-class soldiers and was felt right
up through the rebuff of the aforementioned Olive Branch Petition.

It wasn’t just the ruling class in England. After the repeal
of the Stamp Act, which was as unpopular in England as it was in America
because of it’s impact on commerce, a group of London merchants sent a letter
to the Boston counterparts suggesting that they should be grateful for the
reprieve, and if they had taken the time to explain their hardships, (while
following the law) everything would have ended much more quickly. (As if!)

I think the point of no return had to be the Townshend Duties.
These came a little over a year after the Stamp Act was repealed and seemed to
be in retribution. I’m still looking for an online copy of the full text of the
Act, but you can read the first
part here. The list of taxes in this abridged post is just
the tip of a large iceberg that denotes different taxes levels for more kinds
of paper than I could have ever imagined was available in 1767.

Of course, The Townshend Duties didn’t last forever either.
(They did, however, outlast Charles Townshend who died in office practically
before the ink was dry.) In a gesture that seems like a thumb in the eye to me, the
tax on tea remained even after all else was repealed in 1770.

Of course before the Townshend Duties could be repealed all
manner of offenses were committed by the Crown – such as disbanding the New
York legislature. But by then, the writing was on the wall.

1 comment:

This surprised me, too, when watching documentaries on the war. How even after shots were fired, we were fighting to be respected, with officers still making toasts to the king. They said it was when the Olive Branch petition was ignored, showing that the king knew all about what had been going on and didn't care one whit, that we threw down the gloves.